The shuffle option on my iPod doesn’t really play a random selection of songs. It seems to pick a couple of dozen albums and play random songs from them for awhile and then move on to another selection of albums. As a result I’ve been listening to quite a bit of the Louvin Brothers’ Satan Is Real album lately. I also went to visit a client a couple of weeks ago and the song being piped into the lobby of their building was “Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition.” So it seems that God has been stalking me lately and the only reasonable options for me are ranting about Jesus on a streetcorner downtown or doing a Cover Freak post featuring religious music. My recent respiratory problems have made raving at the top of my lungs a little difficult, so I decided to go with the CF post.
The Young Norwegians “Plastic Jesus” (Goldcoast Singers)
This is my favorite gospel song. I never understood why somebody would want a plastic Jesus on the dashboard of their car until I realized that you could use him as a flask. Suddenly it seems like a good idea.
Johnny Cash “Personal Jesus” (Depeche Mode)
The American Recordings albums were wonderful things, filled with great music and giving Johnny Cash well-deserved recognition late in his life. The only problem is that the success of those records encouraged guys like Paul Anka and Glen Campbell to put out albums of terrible covers of contemporary hits in a pathetic attempt at relevance.
Tricky “Dear God” (XTC)
I just found out that there’s a guy who hired a bunch of atheists to care for the pets of people who are taken up to heaven in the Rapture. Apparently the trick is to convince prospective clients that his staff is godless enough to get left behind but kind enough to take good care of their pets. I think the owner of the company just needs to make sure that everybody on staff has this song on his or her iPod.
Bad Livers “Crying Holy Unto The Lord” (Traditional)
After becoming known for demented punk bluegrass, the Bad Livers confused everybody by releasing an album of traditional spirituals. When you consider that they grew up listening to and playing those songs it wasn’t really that much of a stretch for them.
Uncle Tupelo “Atomic Power” (The Louvin Brothers)
I may be the only person in Chicago who doesn’t like Wilco, but I loves me some Uncle Tupelo. The sentiment of this song always seemed a bit odd to me. I suppose it’s not a bad idea to get right with God if you live in fear of nuclear annihilation, but it would seem more productive to me to work for nuclear disarmament.
Except for Mark Rubin, who grew up Jewish and released a kick-ass Hannakuh album!
Steve, I’ve had the same shuffle problem in the past. Check the settings on your iPod and see if it’s set to “album shuffle”, or something like that. Change it back to “song shuffle” and you should be alright.
Strangely enough in my settings shuffle songs was set to “off.” I was selecting shuffle from the main menu, perhaps the default behavior for that is to shuffle albums. I set the shuffle setting to “songs” so I’ll see if that makes a difference. Thanks for the tip.
Not that there’s anything wrong with listening to a whole mess of Louvin Brothers songs.
Good point about Mark Rubin. So I guess the Dust On The Bible album was a bit of a stretch for him.
Well, both are true. I am Jewish and I did release a “kick ass” Hannukah CD (search CD Baby.) However, I did sing all those Christ of Christ and Baptist hymns quite a bit growing up in Oklahoma. Even in school. Actually mostly in school. (And I’m the only guy I know who didn’t dig Wilco either.)
Fantastic blog. However, one correction this week. The Uncle Tupelo cover is of the Louvin Brothers’ “Great Atomic Power” from 1952. The Buchanan Brothers piece is a different song entirely, albeit with a similar theme.